


Bluebird

by Tortellini



Series: Facebook Fanfiction Challenge [3]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Bathing/Washing, Coping, Depression, Discussion of Pregnancy, Domestic, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, F/M, Falling In Love, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Friendship/Love, I'm Sorry, Infertility, Love, Loving Marriage, Marriage, Mental Health Issues, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic, Panic Attacks, Patricia Blum Uris Loves Stanley Uris, Phone Calls & Telephones, Pregnancy, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, References to Depression, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Sad, Sad Ending, Sappy, Slice of Life, Songfic, Stanley Uris Has OCD, Stanley Uris Loves Patricia Blum Uris, Stanley Uris Takes a Bath, Suicide, Suicide Attempt, Suicide Notes, The Author Regrets Everything, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, True Love, Wordcount: 500-1.000, happy with a sad ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26672134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tortellini/pseuds/Tortellini
Summary: Snapshots in Stanley Uris' life, and the life of the spunky young woman who will become his wife: from first dates, to domestic life, to middle age, and not to old age.Oneshot
Relationships: Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Series: Facebook Fanfiction Challenge [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911961
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	Bluebird

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by ["Bluebird"](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/691699) by Zachary Knowles. 



_Come down to the hotel train  
Everybody's seat is saved  
And I've got one saved for you here_

His hands are shaking ever so slightly as he's waiting for her to arrive. What if she stood him up? It's an absolutely awful thought and he knows it as soon as he thinks it, but--once it's in his head he can't exactly get it out again. I mean, let's be honest, how many girls would want to go out with their father's employee? Even to him it sounds a little creepy. 

It had all started because Stanley Uris had just sort of overheard his boss one day. The man was broad-shouldered and thin-lipped, but nice enough to him; and he had been talking to someone completely different. 

"My daughter watches videos about different kinds of rescued birds--"

Stan had turned around so sharply he'd almost hurt his neck. "Your daughter does _what?"_

And that's how he's in this particular situation right now. 

Maybe it was a bad idea though. Maybe she won't like him. Maybe--it's shallow, but maybe he just won't find her attractive. Hell, maybe she won't find _him_ attractive. Maybe they won't have anything to talk about. Maybe she's just not coming--the restaurant that he's at is not really anything more than a diner, what with his budget, it's nothing fancy--

And the door opens. A little bell jingles. 

Patricia Blum isn't really...what he's expecting if he's going to be honest. Some prissy Jewish girl in a pencil-line skirt. Not that there's anything wrong with that--Stanley considers himself a quiet feminist, thank you very much, and women can where whatever the hell they want. But no.

The young woman in front of him has her short blonde hair pulled back half up. Cheeks are littered with freckles, and her soft curves are so unlike Stan's own harsh angles. Her ears are pierced with little gold hoop earrings; her purse is embroidered with flowers. 

And Stan thinks she's the most beautiful person he's ever set eyes on, to be honest. 

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" Patty--she introduces herself as Patty, not Patricia, waving off the formal-sounding name in earnest. "Traffic was absolute shit, and I forgot my keys when I was halfway out the door--"

"It's--" Stan's voice cracks, like he's a kid again, and the tips of his ears burn red. If Patty notices, she doesn't say anything, but her eyes twinkle slightly. "It's fine, believe me, I just got here a few minutes ago too."

That's a lie but he doesn't want her to feel bad. 

She lets him pull out her seat for her--old habits die hard sometimes, he was raised to be a gentleman and his parents would be proud of him if they were here. Which they aren't. And he shouldn't think of his parents while he's on a date, that's weird. Is he rambling? 

And when she opens her mouth to talk, he listens.

* * *

_Don't be afraid to sit down and talk  
Some listen, some do what they want  
I promise I'll stay right here_

Stan learns that Patty is in her last year at the University of New York studying education (she wants to work inner city, much to her parents' chagrin, because she might not make as much money that way but she doesn't care). She has a twin brother and a younger sister. She turns out to be Jewish too--after all, 'Blum' is a Jewish-sounding last name. She's vegetarian. She has a fifteen-year-old cat named Mary. 

Then it's Stan's turn to talk. He tells her about his parents, his father being the only rabbi in the small town he'd grown up in. She can relate to anti-semitism (he wishes she couldn't). He tells her about his degree in accounting and the reason why he moved to New York (school) which he doesn't think is very interesting, but Patty listens with rapt interest, and not just to be polite. She says she isn't good with numbers offhandedly, and he laughs. And he tells her about his birds. 

Time passes in the blink of an eye and all too soon it's time for both of them to go. She grins, sticks her hand out in a handshake, and he takes it gently. He kisses her cheek too, and they both blush. 

"I really liked this," he says earnestly. "Would you like to do something again?"

"Next time come over so I can cook for you. The food here was amazing, but. I think I can do better." 

She winks before she leaves. Stan Uris is sure he's in love.

* * *

_Don't even listen  
Don't pay attention  
Just drift away with me  
Don't even listen  
Don't pay attention  
...welcome to the hotel train_

The next months are the best of Stan Uris' life (not that he can remember very much of his childhood, for some reason, but no matter--he's sure they could never compare to what life is like now). He learns everything he can about the warmth that is Patty Blum. And even then, he wishes he knew more, just so he can bask in her, in her confidence and humor and beauty. Is that sappy? Has he turned into a sappy old man? He doesn't even care. 

Patty is a night owl. She loves big breakfasts, and cooks for him. She broke her arm when she was in the fourth grade. She's one of the most stubborn people he knows and one time they go on a trip out of town--you better believe she doesn't ask for directions. There the stereotypes are reversed, at least. 

He finds out that she loves it when it rains too; sometimes Stan comes home from work, tired and feeling down because that's all it did all day, and she'll have let herself into his apartment (he's a gentleman and they don't live together yet since they're still just dating; her father would have a fit if they did). And she's just...sitting at one of his tiny windows with a mug of tea, watching the rain, peaceful.

She insists she loves horror movies, but somehow she always manages to get scared of them and end up hiding in Stan's shoulder or the blankets halfway through (and he definitely doesn't mind this). 

Stan's known he'd fall in love with her from the first time the two of them met. On a Sunday morning he wakes up early to buy her a ring. 

* * *

_Come down to the hotel train_  
 _I've been lonely for some days_  
 _And I could use someone by my side_

Stan had never been someone who was super big on physical touch.

Since he'd been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as a teenager, he's managed it sort of well, but he has aversions. Always had, as long as he could remember. Simple things like food or certain sounds. More serious things like--intrusive thoughts. Things he's never wanted to think but has and sometimes can't control. Somedays he'll just sit there and think, _the clock is crooked. Fix it. Fix it or someone will die. Patty will die._ Even if he knows it's not realistic. Even if he knows she's at work and safe. He has to straighten the clock. 

And Patty's never judged him for it, you know? She asks him before she touches him. Sometimes they cuddle. Sometimes they just sit side by side watching movies, and she doesn't complain, ever. She's helped calm him down before too, and she's just--

She's introduced touch as one of his love languages.

* * *

_ You can take the window seat  
Beautiful, the valley in green  
Take it in before we lose sight _

Meanwhile it's now a few months later and Stan's wife (wife!) manages to surprise him with something else altogether. 

"Hey," she says, coming over to lean against the back of the chair that he's sitting on. Her chin is in her hand, lazy, comforting. He's taking a break from his work for once. Being an accountant is hard sometimes, no matter how much he really does love numbers. So he's reading in his chair. And Pats is doing her thing. 

"Hm?" He looks up at her then, eyes soft behind his bifocals. He needs them these days, to read. "What can I do for you, babylove?"

"I want a baby."

It makes sense. They've talked about children before. And Stan's apprehensive about it, he has to admit--but that's just the kind of man he is, Patty knows that. She doesn't hold it against him. And he knows, without a doubt in his mind, just how amazing of a mother she'd be. He wants to give her a child. Wants to have a little girl to take birdwatching with him early Sunday mornings; wants to come home from work and have a little boy barrel into his legs, giggling, with his mother's eyes. 

Soon he realizes as the days pass...maybe there's nothing he wants more. 

* * *

_Ooh, don't even listen  
_ _Don't pay attention  
_ _Drift away with me, mmm  
_ _Ooh, don't even listen  
_ _Don't pay attention  
_ _...welcome to the hotel train_

And the days pass: they turn into months, which slowly turn into years. Stan gets promoted; Patty gets a job teaching. They're happy. They're not quite so young anymore, edging closer to middle age and maybe then some, but you know what? It's not like Stan cares. They move out of their first apartment and into an actual house--

A house where Stan can have an office, work from home some more. Have a big old arm chair that's just his, comfortable for his neck.

A house where Patty can put up her paintings. Maybe have a piano. Definitely have a big window for her to read at. 

...a house with a second bedroom. For that baby that just hadn't seemed to come yet. 

But besides that? Their life is perfect. Nothing could go wrong. 

* * *

_Come down to the hotel train_   
_You can go or you can stay_   
_'Cause I'll be here for quite some time_

It's April when he gets the call. So much time has passed since Stanley Uris had first met Patty in that little restaurant: he's thirty-nine now, almost forty, and so is she. He's doing a puzzle of all things, idly chatting, the tv on in the background. Not a day has gone by that he hasn't loved her though. That's really important for him to point out. That, and the fact that not a day will go by where he won't. 

No matter what happens. 

"Stanley Uris speaking," he says mildly into the phone, reaching beneath the coffee table to grab the puzzle piece that had fallen. 

"Stan? It's Mike."

Something splinters in Stan's carefully constructed mind. 

"Sorry," he says, and he sounds like he's hearing himself from somewhere far away. "I'm sorry, who?"

"Mike Hanlon," Mike Hanlon says on the other line. He sounds patient. Tired. "From Derry."

_Curly hair. Pressed, button-down shirts. A darkskinned boy, good-looking, riding an old bike. Boys: a tangle of elbows and knees and people he hasn't thought about in years, in decades, but who come back like a crushing weight on his ribs, on his lungs, and he can't breathe anymore, it's as simple as that, and--_

"Mike." Stan finds his voice. "Oh my god, Mike, from Derry. I'm sorry, I don't know why I--" he cuts himself off. "How are you? It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

In the background, he feels Patty looking at him; he can picture her cocking an eyebrow. Maybe she's thinking of the 'Jake from State Farm' commercial where the guy's wife thinks he's calling another woman but it's just the insurance agent. He has the most absurd feeling to laugh a little hysterically. 

"Twenty-seven years," Mike says. 

And Stan really wishes he hadn't said that. 

"...It's back, isn't it," Stan hears himself say. He feels his own dread. 

"How much do you remember--?"

_Screaming. A woman but not a woman; her face is long, is twisted, like someone grabbed her forehead and chin and just_ yanked. _Teeth. So many teeth. Sun beating down on bare shoulders. The smell of blood. The clown._

The clown. 

"All of it." Stan says. He's staring at the puzzle and no longer seeing it. "I remember all of it."

"You made a promise, Stan," Mike says. "How soon can you be here?"

"Well--I-I don't know. There's some things I'll have to take care of, and--"

"Take care of it. We need you back as soon as possible. See you soon, Stan-the-man."

The nickname crushes him. The line goes dead. 

* * *

_I never really can leave this place_   
_The sunrise is so good each day_   
_Bluebirds in the warm of the light_

You know the truth? Everything is fine now. 

Stanley Uris always worked best with a plan. He figured out one within the hour. It's all written out. Everything is fine now. The water is warm and soothing around him. The back of his head leans against the side of the tub. The bathroom smells like Patty's soaps (one time he used hers by accident and she wouldn't shut up about it). He'd kissed her forehead when he'd told her he was going up to take a bath. 

Stanley Uris is doing the right thing. Mike Hanlon will be able to rally everyone else. He will not be the one to bring them down. He isn't going to leave, not really. He isn't going to Maine. He's staying right here in his and his wife's house. This will be the very last place he will ever be. 

Everything is fine. 

The cuts on his arms are deep, but they hardly hurt anymore.

Stanley Uris feels warm. He closes his eyes. 


End file.
